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Qui
Time ticked by. The moon reached its zenith and began to wane. I crossed my front legs and shifted my rear ones, trying to find a comfortable position. The cold, hard pavement wasn't helping the aches any.
It had to be nearing three when a car finally pulled to a stop in front of Jin's house. It wasn't Jin—the legs that appeared underneath the car door as it opened were decidedly feminine, as was the flowery scent that spun through the air.
The car door slammed shut, revealing a short blonde wearing four inch heels, rolled up jeans, and a purple crop top. She was a little on the overweight side, but absolutely stu
She made her way through Jin's gate and up the steps. I glanced at the house where Qui
He was gone.
Completely gone.
And yet I'd seen or heard no movement and his car was still parked up the road.
How could he leave without me catching some hint of it? He may have vampire speed, but even if he'd moved faster than a speeding bullet, I still should have caught some hint of it. Should have seen the disappearing flare of his life force.
Frowning, I sca
Then I caught the familiar scent of sandalwood and masculinity on the air. Qui
He was still here, even if I couldn't see him.
I raised my nose, drawing in the scent, trying to find direction. It was coming from high above me. Not from the rooftops, but from the sky itself.
My gaze went to the night and the stars, but there was nothing to be seen beyond the gathering clouds and the brightly shining moon.
What the hell was going on? Vampires couldn't fly—not unless they were bird-shifters in their pre-vampire life, anyway. And whatever else he was, Qui
Then something he'd said a few months ago came back to me. I'd asked him how he'd gotten into Starr's compound without Rhoan or anyone else seeing him, and he'd said, I simply ceased to exist in any term the human mind recognizes.
Shame he'd forgotten to mention the same damn talent allowed him to fly.
My gaze went back to Maisie. She'd reached the front door and was searching through her bag. Obviously, she didn't keep her door keys on the same tag as her car keys. For a powerful mage, she was kinda dumb.
Qui
At the last possible moment, Maisie seemed to sense the same thing, because she swung around and gasped. A hand formed out of thin air, chopping down hard. Maisie dropped to the steps like a stone.
Qui
Maybe shifting into wolf shape several times had finally muted the strength of Qui
As my steps echoed across the still night, I pressed the com-link in my ear and said, "Hello, hello, anyone tuned in?"
"I'm always tuned-in, unlike some former liaisons who shall go unmentioned."
Oh joy. The caramel cow. "And a good evening to you, too, Sal."
"What do you want, Riley?"
Pleasantry, which I was never going to get talking to her. But I guess I wasn't overly generous with it myself, so I was hardly in a position to bitch.
Which had never stopped me before.
"Jack around anywhere?"
"One moment, please."
The sound of heels clicking came through the earpiece, meaning Jack was somewhere other than his desk. "Riley?" he said, after a moment. "Did you take care of our mage?"
"Not exactly."
"What happened?"
"Qui
Jack sighed. "What's he done this time?"
"He's just kidnapped our little mage."
"What?"
"Yeah. We did foul the pentagram through which she was calling the demons, which according to him was better than destroying it, because it will force her to expend more energy making a new one."
"In dark spells, it's usually the magician's blood that fuels the summoning. Fouling it won't actually stop her using it, it'll just prevent her from calling through certain types of entities."
"Meaning I should have destroyed it?" That Qui
"She would have sensed the destruction. It might have driven her—and the rest of them—underground." He paused, and the sound of liquid hissing into a cup came down the line. He was either in the day-shift operations room or the foyer, where the other coffee machine was situated. "What happened after that? How come Qui
"Because the bastard pulled his vampire wiles on me—embedded an order to go home while our telepathic line was open."
"Game man. Has he still got his balls?"
I gri
"Does it? That's interesting."
"Yeah. Once I'd discovered that, I naturally headed back to see what Qui
"What?"
"Well, I'm not actually sure if he was flying. I couldn't see wings or anything. He seemed to be more drifting."
"Even very old vampires ca
"But before he was vampire, he was half-human and half something else," I corrected. "And that other half is something that doesn't exist anymore."
"Only birds—or bird-shifters—fly."
"So do gryphons. So do a hundred other things that can't be classified as birds."
"None of which Qui
I raised my eyebrows. "Then you know what he is?"
"Nope. I only know what I've been told."
By his sister, no doubt, who was the next one up the vampire ladder from Qui
"It'll take a bit of time to find his car-code and then track him, but we can try."
"And in the meantime, what do you want me to do?"
"Any word from Jin?"
"No." Of course, it was hard to get word when I had the phone off But I wasn't about to mention that because Jack would kill me.
"Any chance that you could get an invite to their di
Who'd have guessed that was coming? "Can't you get the infrared working?"
"No. He's got some of the most sophisticated shielding in that house that I've ever come across. We can get their body heat and positioning, but we're still only catching snippets of actual conversation."